Re: patacones

[Colin Danby <danbyc@xxxxxxx>]

I figured this would get the chartalists excited.  As Daniel notes these
are provincial currencies.  One of the interesting institutional aspects
of the Argentine case is struggles over spending and credit between the
federal and provincial levels.  In good chartalist fashion patacones are
good for paying local taxes, but that does not seem to stop them from
trading at a discount to the national currency.  The NYT account of a
couple of weeks back also suggested that patacones were more likely to
be accepted by shops selling cheap consumption goods.  It's interesting
that when different currencies circulate you tend to see distinct
spheres of expenditure or circulation.

I like Daniel's Gresham's law point about how this encourages spending.

Didn't California do something like this several years back, for a short
time, to pay state workers?

Best, Colin